


The Shadow of the Twin Towers

by Kamahontas



Category: Remember Me (2010)
Genre: 9/11, Anniversary, Engagement, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Love in NYC, Love will overcome everything, Marriage, NYC, New York City, Nine Eleven, Tragedy changing lives, World trade center, never forget, never forgotten, wtc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-11
Updated: 2018-09-11
Packaged: 2019-07-11 04:49:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15965063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kamahontas/pseuds/Kamahontas
Summary: Tyler was waiting for the meeting with his father and the lawyers, but the tragedy that terrified the whole world happened. Will he survive? What will happen to the Hawkins family?





	The Shadow of the Twin Towers

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to post this story today because of the 17th anniversary of the 9/11 events, and "Remember Me" is about this tragic day. So, this is my way of honoring the memory of this tragedy.

When Tyler left to his father’s office, Ally quickly got dressed and started making breakfast. At the same time, Aiden got up too, only to pick up a call from one of his many girls. Ally couldn’t help but giggle hearing her friend’s conversation. It was surely a happy morning. Everything seemed to be just perfect. Tyler was about to meet his father and hopefully make amends with him at last. Last night was wonderful, too. She got back with Tyler and they were reconciling for all night long. Alyssa blushed at the memory of their actions, and then just continued making breakfast. She was so happy right now. It seemed that nothing could ever destroy their happiness.  
  
“See?” suddenly Aiden joined her in the kitchen. “I told ya everything will be alright.”  
  
“You were right.” She smiled warmly at her friend and as she put a French toast on a plate, she placed it in front of her friend. “There you go” She smiled and quickly fixed her portion, and sat across the table from Aiden. “So, who was that girl who called you? Sorry, it was impossible to not overhear you.” She giggled. “You nailed the dirty talk.”  
  
“Oh, you know, I’m a romantic.” He grinned and rakishly took a bite of his food into his mouth. He was still chewing when he got a text message. He checked it, and his face turned as white as chalk.  
  
“What happened?” Alyssa asked worried, it wasn’t an easy task to scare Aiden. She hoped for a response, but he only he jumped up from behind the table and rushed up the stairs to the roof. Intrigued what happened, she followed her friend. Aiden was seemingly trying to call someone, but she didn’t know whom. When they reached the roof and ran out on the terrace, he gave up the idea and lowered his phone. What they saw made their hearts skipping a beat. One of the World Trade Center towers was in flames between 85th and 77th floor. Mr. Hawkins’ office was at 74th floor, and Tyler was there, probably with his father. Ally and Aiden stood on the terrace watching the burning skyscraper in astonishment. And then even worse happened, all of the sudden the second tower was hit by a plane. Ally screamed hysterically. She covered her face with her hands and cried. She was never so scared before. Could Tyler be away? Is there any chance he survived?  
  
Suddenly Ally’s phone rang. She picked it up immediately.  
  
“Ally? Where are you?” It was her father.  
  
“I’m at Tyler’s,” she replied crying. “Dad, he’s in the World Trade Center!” She totally broke down at this point. Aiden was stunned, too, but as he saw what happened to Ally, he held her tight. He could now hear what Mr. Craig was saying.  
  
“Yes, I just saw him carried to an ambulance. They don’t know much, but… Ally… he’s unconscious. I’ll text you the address of the hospital.”  
  
“God…” she cried almost hysterically. “A-are you okay?”  
  
“I’m fine, don’t worry.” A moment of silence, with only some voices in the background. And then he spoke again. “Ally, I have to go, but don’t worry about me. I’ll be okay, I promise. I’ll call you whenever I can. Go to Tyler. Be there for him.”  
  
“Okay, daddy.” She replied, still unable to stop crying. “Just be careful. I love you.” With this, she hung up the call, and a moment later she got a text message with the hospital’s address. She looked at Aiden, who was still holding her. “C-can y-you take me there?” she asked, showing him the message.  
  
“Of course.” He replied gently. “Anything you need.”  
  
“Thank you. I’ll take some of his stuff and we can go,” she sniffled and quickly dialed Diane’s number. She answered only after five signals, and when she finally did she wasn’t able to speak. She was crying too hard.  
  
“Mrs. Hirsch, it’s Ally…” Alyssa cried as well. “M-my dad called. He saw Tyler being transported to the hospital. Lenox Health Greenwich Village. B-but he’s unconscious. I’m going there.” This was all she managed to say before bursting into an uncontrollable sob. Aiden took the phone from his friend and only told Diane that he’ll be there too. He was way too shocked to be able to say anything more without crying as well. As he hung up, he returned the phone to Ally and they went downstairs, to their apartment. She narrowed her steps to her and Tyler’s bedroom and packed some clothes for her boyfriend. While doing so, from between T-shirts fell down a small red heart-shaped box. Ally picked it up and couldn’t resist opening it. She saw two simple, silver rings in it and even more, tears rolled down her face.  
  
“Promise rings.” Suddenly Aiden stood behind her. “Tyler bought them a few days after we came back from the beach house. He wanted to come to you, and beg your forgiveness.” He explained.  
  
“Is it how much he cares?” She asked swallowing her tears while holding the box close to her heart.  
  
“You’re his everything,” Aiden admitted sadly.  
  
“And he’s mine.” She looked at her friend with eyes filled with tears. “Aiden, I need you to know that I’m grateful. I’m grateful for your idea of Tyler asking me out. It doesn’t matter it started as a bet or a revenge plan. All that matters is I met him. Thank you.”  
  
Aiden listened to her touched. He suddenly fully realized how much Ally loved Tyler.  
  
“I’m sorry that we caused you pain.” He whispered in a shaking voice.  
  
“It’s alright. You couldn’t really know that Tyler might fall in love with me. Anyway, let’s go to him.” She sniffled again and closed the bag with clothes. She also put there the rings, wanting to have them with her when her boyfriend will wake up.

  
  


An hour later, they were at the hospital, and Ally immediately asked for Tyler at the registration desk.  
  
“Are you his family?” The nurse asked suspiciously.  
  
“I’m his wife,” Alyssa lied. She was ready to do everything to find Tyler.  
  
“Alright. He’s in the Intensive Care Unit. I’ll show you the way.” The nurse replied and went out from behind her desk.  
  
“W-what’s his condition?” Ally asked feeling that her heart skipped another beat.  
  
“This night will be decisive.” The sister said sadly and just walked Ally to Tyler’s room. When she entered, she thought that Diane was surely still somewhere in the giant traffic jam. Seemingly walking right now was the fastest way to get around the city. Ally walked up to Tyler’s bed and held his hand. Seeing him attached to all these chords and tubes broke her heart. He couldn’t even breathe on his own; a respiratory machine had to do this for him. The room was filled with silence, with only a monotonous beeping of the computer monitoring Tyler’s heartbeat and pulse.  
  
“I’m here.” Ally whispered, sitting on a stool that was placed next to her boyfriend’s bed. “I don’t know if you can hear me now, but I want you to know that I love you.”  
As she spoke this, to the room rushed Diane.  
  
“Thank you for coming.” She whispered as she stood next to Alyssa.  
  
“Of course.” The girl replied gently and stood up from the chair to let Diane sit next to Tyler. “I’m gonna leave you now. You need to be alone.”  
  
“No, please, stay, Ally. Tyler needs you…”  
  
Ally smiled softly.  
  
“Alright.” She took a deep breath. “I guess you should know… I didn’t come in yesterday, because I was going to see Tyler. I surprised him. We… we’re together again. I know he didn’t mean to hurt me, it just slipped out of control.”  
  
“He loves you, more than the life itself,” Diane said gently.  
  
“I love him too. He’s my everything,” Ally admitted frankly. “I know it wasn’t wise, but to be able to be by him, I lied to the nurse… I… I told her I’m Tyler’s wife…”  
  
Diane smiled warmly and hugged Ally.  
  
“In his heart you are.” She said and looked at her son. “God… he’s so calm… 

  


Weeks were passing, and Ally never left Tyler’s room. She was by his side day and night. The hospital’s staff even gave her a bed so she could rest without the need of leaving the room. Every night she was falling asleep, holding Tyler’s hand and waking up, still doing so. Then every morning she was giving him sponge baths and changed his clothes. Weeks turned into months, and it was already the end of November, nearly Thanksgiving. That’s when bad news came from the doctor. He told Ally and the rest of the family, that if Tyler won’t improve within three days, he will have to be unbuckled from the life support. This broke everyone. Caroline ran out of the hospital and Aiden had to follow her to bring the girl back to the room. Diane fell into her husband’s arms, and Charles nearly passed out. Ally though rested next to Tyler, and as she held his hand, she whispered into his ear:  
  
“Don’t you dare to leave me, you hear?” She whispered through tears. “I need you here, we all do; your parents, Caroline and Aiden. We can’t live without you, you know?” She didn’t give up, not at that moment, not later. It was late night when she was alone with her boyfriend again. That’s when she remembered about the promise rings she had found on the day when Tyler was taken to the hospital. She took the box from the drawer of the night table and opened it. She took the bigger ring and slid it on Tyler’s finger.  
  
“I know they were to be our promise rings, but I want them to be much more than that. I want them to be our wedding rings.” She whispered and kissed him softly, and as she pulled away, Ally looked at her beloved man and smiled tenderly. “I take you, Tyler Keats Hawkins, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till the day my life is through.” She vowed and held his hand. Suddenly she felt a soft squeeze and looked at Tyler’s hand. He indeed squeezed her hand! She looked up at his face and saw his eyes opened. “Tyler!” She exclaimed and threw her arms around his neck. She pulled away though, aware that he might be in pain. She also immediately pressed the emergency button next to his bed, knowing that the doctor has to check on him before they will be able to talk. The doctor asked Ally to leave the room for a moment so he could run all the tests. She only nodded and went to the corridor to call Diane. It was nearly two in the morning, but Ally couldn’t wait with the news.  
“Mrs. Hirsch, Tyler’s awake!” She said through tears of joy. “Yes, the doctor is checking on him. But, he seems to be fine. Okay, I’ll see you soon.” As she hung up the call, Ally was allowed to see Tyler. She entered the room with a happy smile across her face. The doctor explained everything and then left. When the couple was alone again, Ally sat on the chair next to Tyler’s bed.  
  
“You scared me to the bone!” She cried out, but they were happy tears.  
  
“It’s alright now, Ally.” He whispered tenderly and wiped her cheeks with his thumbs. As he did, he noticed the silver ring on his finger and smiled brighter. “So… I wasn’t dreaming? You really vowed to me a moment ago?”  
  
“Yes.” She replied sniffling. “And I can do this over and over again.” She chuckled happily and kissed him softly. As they parted, Tyler looked around the room, and then sat up on the bed. “Where’s the other ring?” He asked, unable to find it on his own.  
  
“Here,” Ally smiled and handed him the box with the smaller ring still inside.  
  
“Thanks.” He replied with a smile and took the ring out of the box, and looked at Ally. “Now it’s my turn to make a vow.” He whispered tenderly and slid the ring on Alyssa’s finger. “With this ring, I take you, Alyssa Craig, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till the day my life is through.”

  


A year later Tyler was fully recovered and could look forward to his future. His future with Ally, who never left his side. A few months after Tyler was dismissed from the hospital they officially got married and moved to a house in the suburbs of New York City, where they were living happily.  
Today was the first anniversary of the tragic events at World Trade Center and the whole family gathered at Diane’s to enjoy a branch together and then they went to the site of the events to take part in the ceremony in honor of all the victims of the tragedy. Tyler stood there listening to members of the families of those, who weren’t as lucky as him and lost their lives in the towers of World Trade Center. When he heard Janine’s name he nearly broke down. He couldn’t believe that he talked to her only a few minutes before she died. Ally held his hand and gave it a soft squeeze.  
“She didn’t suffer. Remember what my dad said? Nobody from your dad’s office made it and they had a sudden death. I know you miss her, I wish I could meet her, but I know she’s watching us now. And we shall honor her.” She said gently and looked at Charles, who unexpectedly walked up to the stage and interrupted the reading of the names. He asked if he could say a few words and everyone nodded. He said a few words about Janine. It was the very first time Tyler has seen his father doing something spontaneous. He liked this change. As Charles joined his family again Ally got an idea. She was holding a bouquet of flowers and from her purse, she took out Tyler’s old journal and a pen. She handed them to her husband and smiled.  
  
“Write her a message, like you do for Michael. We all will, and then we will attach it to these flowers. And we’ll keep doing this every single year, on each September the eleventh.”  
  
“This is a beautiful idea, Ally.” Charles smiled touched by Alyssa’s thought. “Janine would love this.”  
  
“My wife is the most wonderful woman in the world.” Tyler smiled and kissed Ally tenderly. “Let’s do this.” He added and wrote a short note to Janine. He then handed the note to Charles, who also wrote a few words. The whole family did. When they finished, they attached the note to the flowers and left it where everyone was placing flowers, cards, and other small gifts. The ceremony lasted until afternoon and that’s when the Hawkins family went back to Diane’s. Ally’s dad joined too. He had to attend the event with the rest of Police officers, but when it ended he was dismissed and he could join his daughter and his new family. They gathered in Diane’s living room happy that Tyler got out of the tragedy and after a few months of recovery he could go back to normal life. He changed a lot though. He was finally fully enrolled at his studies and was even passing exams for two years within one. His goal was to graduate together with Ally so they could start working together. His dream was to work in one office with his wife and she wanted the same. They were planning their future and it surely was the bright one. The events of Nine Eleven had changed their lives forever but they were good changes. Tyler started to treat life more seriously and made sure that his relations with Charles were as good as they only could be. They even started working together, so until graduation Tyler had a job, as he stated, to make sure Ally will always have everything she needs. Alyssa always helped her husband and father-in-law during setting the new office of Hawkins, Stones, Jacobs that now was set at Fulton Street. They were a big happy family who loved each other dearly. The tragedy got them closer and created bonds that will never be broken; the events that caused this will never be forgotten.


End file.
